5o6 Voyage of the Novara. 



30° of longitude, within which it can be cultivated without 

 being affected by severe alternations of temperature. That 

 part of North China, however, which lies between 27° and 

 33° N., seems on the whole to furnish the finest sorts,* where 

 the mean annual temperature ranges between 61°. 7 and 68°, 

 and in which fine weather with a rise of temperature follows 

 upon a heavy, rain-fall ; the latter being as necessary for the 

 speedy and luxuriant growth of the leaves, as the former is 

 for eliciting their fragrance and other valuable qualities. 



To form an idea of the enormous amount of tea which is 

 annually cultivated in China, it suffices to remark that, after 

 deducting the immense quantity consumed, there are more 

 than 70,000,000 lbs. exported annually. 



It is not our intention to give a disquisition upon the cul- 

 tivation and preparation of the tea, the drying {poey), roast- 

 ing (tschoo), perfuming and colouring of the leaves, in short, 

 the long tedious process to which this valuable article of com- 

 merce is subjected from its collection on the fertile green 

 slopes of the bush-covered hills of Bohea, till its arrival at 

 the port of shipment in a form suited for exportation. We 

 prefer here to confine our attention to a consideration of 

 those experiments which have recently been made in China 

 with respect to tea cultivation. 



There are of the tea plant an almost endless variety of 



* In Java, where the tea plant has been cultivated for a series of years, the moun- 

 tain region from 4000 to 5000 feet above the sea, and with an average temperatm-e of 

 from 58°. 1 to 73°. 7, Fahr., has been found best adapted for the growth of the plant. 



